To: IBECC 2024 Judges
From: Thomas White
Re: Judge information and instructions, April 13
See below for additional information depending on whether you’re judging in-person or online. Also, Raquel Foriest, Leon Goldman, Jamie McKillop, please note at end.
Thanks very much for volunteering to judge in this year’s International Business Ethics Case Competition. This event would be impossible without your help, and we deeply appreciate your generosity.
IBECC actually consists of three separate competitions. The first involves the students’ full presentation (25 to 30-minutes) followed by Q&A and feedback. This is the competition in which you will be judging. The second and third competitions (10-minute and 90-second presentations) will be judged by a different pool of individuals.
For your session, the team will have up to 30 minutes for their presentation. (We’ve told the teams “25 minutes with a 5-minute grace period.”) You can find an executive summary of your team’s presentation here: https://ibecc.net/thursday-schedule-v-1/ This will inform you about the “business identity” of both the team and the audience. Teams are expected to bring you up to speed on the issue at hand and then to convince you of a recommendation that is legal, financially sound and makes sense ethically. This will be followed by a 20-minute question and answer session, after which you’ll be asked to give the team feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of their presentation. During the Q&A, please adopt the role the team has given you (member of a board, etc.). Your session will be overseen by one of our experienced überjudges, who will give you additional guidance.
Please note that even though we ask students to address the legal and financial dimensions of the case, this is a business ethics competition, not a business plan or a business law competition. Students have been instructed to explain the ethical issues in a simple and straightforward way, and they have been advised to make it plain how these issues relate to business concerns. If you’re going to press the team for more explanation, our preference would be for you to concentrate more on ethical issues than on financial or legal ones.
To prepare for judging, we ask you to consult our “Judge Resources” page (https://ibecc.net/judge-resources/), where you’ll find helpful information for preparation. From that page, you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with the judging form. You’ll also find a link to videos from prior competitions. We also ask that you watch at least one of these videos.
If you want to check on the time of your assignment, here’s the URL
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PUo944QxqvauAcZqGbexYSxBxjpoeSZPodW-NKYIWAY/edit?usp=sharing
Again, thanks very much for your help. If you have any questions, please write to me at judge@ibecc.net.
In Person judges. We’re at the Mount Ida campus of UMass, 100 Carlson Avenue, Newton MA 02459. A map of the Mt Ida campus is attached. Circled in red are the two buildings in which we’ll be operating: Shaw Hall and School of Design. Go to Shaw to register, get your judging materials and room assignment. There will be a judges’ room with coffee. All presentations are in the School of Design, which is right across from Shaw. There’s plenty of parking in front of and/or near Shaw. We’ve been asked the following by Mt Ida: “We ask that anyone from your group not to park in the Wingate parking lot (that is for our students on campus) and along the North Loop Road to the Library (that is for UMBA and the Foundation). Attendees can park in the Visitor Lot, along Shaw Road, Chapman, Tennis Courts and Malloy. There is a small lot between the Athletic Center and School of Design that can be accessed by going around on North Loop Road. It is a one way in front of School of Design, they cannot access it from Shaw Road.”
If you want to check on the time of your assignment, here’s the URL
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PUo944QxqvauAcZqGbexYSxBxjpoeSZPodW-NKYIWAY/edit?usp=sharing
Most judging sessions will be a combination of in-person judges and online judges. This is the first time we’ve had such a hybrid situation. Our dry runs with the technology make us feel we should be OK, but thanks for your patience if we run into any snags.
Please fill out the judging form and give it to Tom or one of the staff before you leave. There’s a judges’ room with coffee if you want to fill it out there or to discuss the session with other members of your panel. If you purchase anything from the Campus Dining Center, please give us a receipt and we’ll reimburse you after the event.
If you have any problems, please call:
Tom White 413.406.0169 (This is a dedicated number for judging issues. For anything else, Tom at 310.877.8326.)
Online judges.
The teams will be presenting in-person, and we’re live-streaming the presentations as Zoom webinars. On Tuesday (most likely), you’ll receive individualized webinar invitations as Panelists. Most judging sessions will be a combination of in-person judges and online judges. This is the first time we’ve had such a hybrid situation. Our dry runs with the technology make us feel we should be OK, but thanks for your patience if we run into any snags. We have some experienced techs helping us. You’ll likely interact with one of the following: Michael Reiner, Ravi Rajan, Liam Mazur, Les Dishman. If you run into a last-minute problem, please call Tom White at 413.406.0169. This is a dedicated number for judges.
After your session, please fill out the online judging form at:
https://forms.gle/6pWJjph15xj5ewCQ7
If you have any judges, please write to me at judge@ibecc.net.
Raquel, Leon, Jamie. You’re involved in the only session where we’re trying to let a couple of students from the McMaster team participate online. I just wanted to give you a heads up because this is where managing the technology can get the most tricky.